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Thursday, January 15, 2015

London Day 2

Last year we had some pretty incredible travelling experiences and I would like to share more of those from London. So alas, here is Day 2.

Looking back, Day 2 was nuts. Mostly because we packed as much as we could into this short time. This was the day to get it all in, so I had a list which was approved by the group and everyone felt we could manage the list. Ha! Be warned... this is a long post.

We met for breakfast at 08:30 and shortly after we walked to the tube. Our first stop was the Tower of London and so Tower Hill was where we were off to.

John and Tammy had been to London before, so we relied on them knowing what to do. The tube system was very user friendly, but we did hit a bit of a snag and at one point we were not sure which train to take. That's when a gentleman who overheard us talking approached and asked if we were going to the Tower, and he then advised which train to wait for. London... you are friendly, thank you very much!

We hopped off at our stop and up the stairs we went.

And the moment I had been waiting for... Hello! What a view.

It's pretty impressive to see this structure against the modern architecture. We could learn from taking care of our historical buildings.

I took so many photos! Who wouldn't? I loved every bit of it and wanted to spend more time. Here is a taste of what we saw...

This is the famous White Tower, the Fortress created by William the Conqueror prior to the 1100's. We did not go inside, but when I return to London, and yes, rest assured I will go back one day, I will take my time walking through.

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We walked mostly along the wall and into the rooms where royalty lived and went about their day to day business.

Tammy wanted to have her photo taken with the Yeoman Warder (we know them more commonly as the Beefeaters) so Marvin approached this gentleman and asked if we could take pictures with him, he was more than happy to oblige. He immediately asked where we were from and when we told him, not only had he known where Edmonton was, he said, "I waited many hours at your Sherlock Holmes (a pub at West Edmonton Mall), for my wife, but she only came to drop off more shopping bags". She enjoyed the shopping :) He had been with the British Army and so was very familiar with Alberta and Canada. The British Army shares training at CFB Suffield. I wish I had asked him his name, but did not.

The Gherkin :)

You can buy the Tower of London souvenir book when you pay for your ticket. It provides pictures and historical information about the Tower. I highly recommend it. It describes the Ravens, which are said to be the guardians of the tower, and if they leave then the kingdom will fall. Do you spot him in the photo below?

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That was it, that was all the time we had for the Tower. We then walked over to the Tower Bridge where we planned to take the boat to the London Eye, but we thought it was just a bit pricey and the tube was so easy to maneuver.

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When we walked up those stairs at Westminster station, I was completely mesmerized by Big Ben, seriously mesmerized. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you already know this :) I couldn't help but take as many photos as possible of the parliamentary buildings and Big Ben, I mean really it is pretty incredible and one of London's most well known symbols. So you can imagine I tried to get the best photo possible, but traffic, joggers, pedestrians and other tourists all seemed to get in my way! I mean really, come on?!! ;)

Meanwhile, the group was waaaaayy ahead of me. This is the trouble being the one holding the camera :)

There she is, the London Eye! I could not wait to get up there and have the birds eye view.

We had the most beautiful weather while in London! How lucky were we?

Okay, so while we were here in the eye, I spotted Buckingham Palace. Boom! Our next stop.

Although, first things first, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and carrot cake at a bakery near the London Eye before we started to walk to Buckingham Palace. I thought I had photos of the bakery, but I don't! I must have been hungry and forgot.

I warned you, I have lots of photos of it.

But here is where it gets funny. Remember I said I had a list, yes well I never really pulled the list out the whole day and it wasn't until I looked at the photos on my camera later in the evening when we were back in the room and I noticed the sign "Westminster Station" and realized we completely missed Westminster Abbey. Yes, so this will be on my list when I return. No worries, right? :)

By this time, me feet were killing me. Obviously I did not bring the proper footwear.

On another note, can anyone tell me the kind of trees these are? This is along St. Jame's Park, Marvin enjoyed the trees, and they were all over London, but no one could tell us the name of them. They were beautiful.

Oh Buckingham Palace, you are beautiful! We walked up to the gates and took photos of the guards. We then made our way to the shop and bought some more souvenirs to bring home. I bought a fridge magnet, an umbrella and some Christmas ornaments. By this time it was close to 3 pm and we still wanted to go to Harrods. I told the group, the only way I was making my way to Harrods was if I could buy a pair of shoes!

Here they are! They are a bit blingie, and I shared a few moves with the group immediately upon placing them on my feet! Yup, they never came off after that.

After partaking in more shopping, we went to the Tea Room where we became ensconced in our seats and ordered tea, scones and clotted cream. Yum.

After we were filled with our tea room experience we took a taxi back to the hotel. It was raining at this point and we were pretty tired! Our evening was spent back at the hotel for an incredible dinner after which we retired to our rooms to rest and prepare for Day 3.

If you made it here, thanks for reading and having a look at our Day 2 in London.

27 comments:

Some great shots Ginger. So gad you enjoyed your time in London and found it friendly. It's quite strange to see that beautiful expanse of green at the Tower. Last time I was there, it was a sea of red.

Happy New Year Ginger! You have got some fantastic pictures here. I love all the angles which really do record how you have to keep looking up and down and all around to see everything. Yes, when we were there with two small children on a hot day, a man overheard us talking about where to go and he recommended the British Museum to keep cool. So we went and it was excellent

Happy New Year Ginger. it's so good to see London through someone else's eye's. I'm with you with Big Ben I have to take tons of photos everytime...in fact i think i have some standing in the same spot as you on the bridge. The Tower of London was a beautiful picture this year with all the poppies x

Lovely to see my adopted home city through your eyes! You certainly covered a lot of ground. It's a shame you didn't get to see the Tower when the poppies were in the moat. As for the trees, I think they might be our classic London Plane.

Oh thank you Abi :) You are fortunate to live so near London, I really do want to visit again, you're right there is so much to see! We really only made it to all the touristy places, I can't imagine all them other things I missed :) I will look for any photos you share of your visit!

It's fascinating to see our capital city through the eyes of a tourist....I think we probably take those amazing old buildings too much for granted and not notice them as much as we should!My trip on the London Eye was at night....and that was pretty amazing too.So glad you enjoyed London.

Hello Jacky! I think it's natural to take what you know and live with for granted, but yes, from our perspective the history is so much more compared to where I live. Yes we have some beautiful old buildings, but they are mostly located in Eastern Canada, the further west you get, there is not so much. The eye at night would have been pretty incredible!!

Wow you sure did pack a lot into your trip and the photos you've got are amazing. I just had a look on the Royal Parks website and apparently the trees are Plane trees. So now I'm learning about London too xx

I really enjoyed sharing in your day 2 day in London. I am always a bit nosey I think as I find it interesting to see where people go as tourists. We llive fairly close to London and when my son had a hospital appointment in the summer we did a boat trip, visited the Tower with poppies and took many photos along the way. I never get bored of the sights. I am looking forward today 3!

What a great day! I've been to London three times but still haven't toured the Tower or ridden the London Eye. Robbie was working most days, so I saved some of those things for when we go again & can do them together. I did see the changing of the guard twice at Buckingham Palace & have lots of photos of Big Ben, too.

Hi Ginger, Wow your trip to London looks amazing. I want to get there one day. My daughter went this past fall. Thank you so much for your beautiful postcard! Too funny since I live so far away from you. ;) I admire your beautiful work at the store often. We ran into each other and chatted once a couple of years ago. Maybe we will meet up there again some day. :) I need to find my scrappy mojo again.

About Me

I am a 40 something year old and live with my significant other, Marvin. We have two cats (Norman and Sophie) and a dog named Edwin. I love my life, but if there was one thing I would change, it is to allow for more time to be creative!